Caught In The Riptide
by bjames238
Summary: Two people, two tragic pasts, two worlds, one story. One pair of human beings whose lives altogether disintegrate around them but they find their way to each other anyway. He a playboy turned CEO and vigilante and she an IT tech turned CEO's widow, the two of them were in for quite the change.
1. Prologue: Everybody Hurts Some Days

Caught In The Riptide

Oliver/Felicity

Author's notes: Okay, this is my first Oliver/Felicity story I'm posting and I'm maybe just a little nervous but I hope you all like it. It's slightly AU but slightly recognizable, maybe some new characters thrown in. It's just the start but I'm curious to see the reaction from it. The title comes from the song "Here With Me" by Susie Suh. The prologue title comes from Avril Lavigne's "Everybody Hurts".

Prologue: Everybody Hurts Some Days

Sometimes life really throws one for a loop. Tragedies happen that threaten to shatter the very world around us. People underestimate the strength within them to survive those tragedies. Life feels unbearable when things get hard. Just getting through from one moment to the next is all anyone can handle – the future being a subject that doesn't appear to be attainable when the present has completely shattered your psyche to its core.

Two people, two tragic pasts, two worlds, one story. One pair of human beings whose lives altogether disintegrate around them but they find their way to each other anyway. He a playboy turned CEO and vigilante and she an IT tech turned CEO's widow, the two of them were in for quite the change.

Their stories begin separately, both of them dealing with this crazy little thing called life on their own.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO

Felicity Smoak-Palmer wasn't having the best of days. Like at all, really. In fact, she really should've stayed in bed this morning. Seriously.

"Mrs. Palmer?"

Though in retrospect the last few months hadn't exactly been ideal either. Not that she'd ever had much luck in her life. Being the only child in a single-parent household was hard enough and now—

"Mrs. Palmer!"

"Don't call me that!" She snapped out of her mind rant, growling at the man – sorry, officer – in front of her. Was it the smartest idea to snap at a cop? Not exactly, but considering the day – month? year? - she'd been having . . . "It's Felicity, okay?"

The cop seemed to pity her, nodding. Something about it aggravated and relieved her at the same time. "Of course, Miss Felicity." He cleared his throat. "As I was saying, my name is Detective Quentin Lance. We just need some information about your hus – about Mr. Palmer. We've ruled you out as a suspect and we're not charging you, however . . ."

"Do I really need to hear this?" She let out a breath. Detective Lance just stared at her. "I mean, clearly I didn't have any clue what kind of man my so-called husband really was. All he ever told me were lies so I don't really see what kind of help I can be finding his killer or figuring what kind of mess he was involved with."

Detective Lance took a deep breath, closing his notebook and putting it into the breast pocket on his suit jacket. "You're right. I'm very sorry, Miss Felicity. If you think of anything or have any questions, please don't hesitate to give me a call." He rested his hand on her shoulder. "I am very sorry that you are going through this. It's never easy to lose anyone – whether through death or otherwise or . . . you . . ." He cleared his throat. "My daughter disappeared a few years ago – she went on a boat trip with a friend and was never found when the ship sank. I don't know what your relationship with Mr. Palmer was, but one way or another you did lose a husband and the father of your child."

Felicity swallowed, resting her hand on the swell of her stomach. Her throat tightened.

"You will get through this, Felicity. I know you will."

"Thanks, Detective Lance." Felicity sniffled, releasing a breath.

He pulled a card out of his front pocket. "Here's my card. If you think of anything or need anything – just give me a call. Okay?"

Felicity nodded. "Will do."

"If you don't mind me asking, when are you due?" He asked.

"About four months or so." She told him.

"Savor each moment." Lance sighed. "Trust me, the time will fly. My Laurel is about your age and Sara . . ."

Felicity nodded, figuring Sara was the missing daughter. She hadn't met her child yet – in fact she didn't even know if it was a girl or a boy – but she couldn't imagine losing him or her like the Detective lost his daughter.

The Detective left, leaving Felicity to contemplate what her future was going to be from now on. Widow – check. Single mom – check. No clue what she was going to do next? Priceless.

Okay, sure, technically since she was a "widow" (even though her marriage was essentially a fraud because her "husband" had not been what or who he'd told her he really was) and therefore was the acting CEO of Palmer Technologies though the company was also a fraud and probably a front for all sorts of things she most certainly didn't want to know about –

A swift pop in her abdomen interrupted her thoughts (run ons, as usual). Hmm, either her unborn child was telling her to calm down or he or she was just as anxious as she was.

Most likely both if the kid was anything like her.

Yep, time to calm down. No time to think about the future. Right now, she needed to focus on the present moment. Just one step at a time, one foot in front of the other . . .

. . . well, as much as she could considering she was just getting to the point where she couldn't see her feet anymore . . .

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO

Oliver Queen stumbled into the window of his fourth floor bedroom wincing with each breath that grated on his two or three cracked ribs.

He didn't make a sound, though. He knew if he did, it would wake the whole house and that was the last thing he needed right now.

It had been a hard night out on the streets of Starling City for the Arrow (or Hood, or Robin Hood, or whatever the SCPD were calling him these days.) A new group of thugs were pushing drugs on the down and out that lived in the Glades and Oliver (as the Arrow), his good friend John Diggle, and the punk kid Roy Harper were doing everything they could to stop them. Oh, and Oliver's ex Laurel occasionally popped in to lend a hand as well.

Tonight, though, it had just been Oliver by himself. Dig was at home with his daughter, Roy was nursing a broken leg, and Laurel was out of town working a case for her day job as District Attorney.

Hence the lone mission where Oliver had been royally beat down and outnumbered. Besides the cracked ribs, he had a few slashes on his arms and legs as well as a bruised shoulder. All in all not too bad – not as hard to hide from those in his daytime life.

He trudged across the floor and flopped down on his bed. He groaned, remembering that he still had the hood, mask, and costume still on.

. . . Ten minutes later he managed to peel the suit off and crawl under the covers in his boxers and a white tank top.

Ahh . . . sleep . . . sweet bliss . . .

"Ollie!"

He bolted up from a dead sleep on the defensive, not quite awake but alert just the same.

"Ollie come on!"

It took him a moment to snap of of it, but he finally processed that his younger sister Thea was in his room pushing (luckily) on his un-bruised shoulder.

"Thea, what the—" He tensed, his muscles more awake then he was.

"Ollie, it's Mom!" Thea whimpered, her lip quivering. At her words, Oliver instantly went into high alert. "She can't breathe and the nurse won't be here for hours yet and Raisa left for the night and—"

"Thea, slow down. Did she take her medication at nine?"

"She did, I saw her. Raisa gave it to her with dinner." Thea answered.

"Call 911." Oliver told her.

Thea scrambled out of the room to do just that and Oliver raced behind her to their mother's room a floor below. His heart was racing, the adrenaline was pumping, and honestly in that moment he couldn't even feel the injuries he'd gotten that night or the multiple scars from years past.

Things had been good for a while since his mother had been given her diagnosis. The doctor had given them a good outcome, convinced she'd make a full recovery.

He'd only been back from the island a few months when she'd first started showing symptoms. And now . . .

He burst into his mother's room and went straight to her side.

"Oh my Oliver . . . my sweet boy . . ."

"Stay with us, Mom – you're going to be okay. Okay?"

The monitors on her bedside started beeping frantically. Oliver went into full alert.

"Mom just hold on. They ambulance will be here soon."

"Ollie they're here!" Thea appeared in the doorway.

Four hours later, Oliver and Thea were each sprawled out on the uncomfortable hospital chairs in their mother's private room. The room was quite large – the very best the Queen family could buy. Aside from the few medical stands and instruments, one would think it were a five-star hotel suite or a mansion bedroom.

Moira was asleep in the bed, stable now that the paramedics and doctors had worked on her. Thea was asleep as well but Oliver was wide awake. He went back and forth between watching his mother and sister sleep.

He'd often done that, though, in the last six years since he was stuck on Lian Yu. When Shado and Slade had been his companions on the island, he'd often listened to them sleep – and then Slade and Sara, and finally Tatsu and Maseo. Now he found himself doing it with his sister and mother – more so since his mother got sick.

They'd been lucky this time, the doctor had said. The specifics of the whole thing still confused him but all he needed to know was that she was okay – for now anyway.

His muscles were starting to protest the torture of the uncomfortable chair so he got up. With Thea and his mother still asleep, he decided to take a walk to find some coffee. His ribs still grated from his altercation with the dealers earlier in the night and his shoulder was throbbing – but there'd be time for rest later. Right now he needed to stay strong for his mother, for Thea, for his city . . .

The coffee machine down the hall was broken – as was the other two on this floor – so he found his way down to the cafeteria. His sister needed to eat something anyway and he probably should too.

The cafeteria was only mildly full of people when he found it. It wasn't that early anymore – well past ten in the morning. Besides the few workers behind the counters and a few doctors and nurses in scrubs, there were a little over half a dozen people in plain clothes – patients and their families.

Oliver was instantly struck by a woman off in the corner. Her long, blonde hair was up in a high pony tail, framing her face with adorable black glasses and showcasing gold and red dangling heart earrings. She wore a bright red dress with black, high heeled shoes. From the side of the table, he noticed that her stomach was very extended – she was pregnant. This explained the ethereal glow that radiated off of her skin – she was stunning in every sense of the word.

"Excuse me, sir."

Oliver shook his head and stepped to the side, allowing the elderly gentlemen to move past him. Hmm . . . he hadn't even heard or seen the man come up to him. It had been a long time since he'd lost his focus that much. The thought was unsettling at best – the Arrow should be more in tuned with the world around him than that.

Even so, he found his attention going back to the blonde mother-to-be at the table. He saw no note of rings on her hands – no significant other? She sniffled as she studied the tablet computer in front of her, holding a pen to her mouth as she chewed on it. The pen was red. A pad of paper was also on the table beside a mug of tea, the tea bag hanging over the edge. She looked so sad – he found it unsettled him greatly even though he didn't know her or her name. He found himself wanting to find out what (or who) was making her so unhappy in a time when she should be celebrating the new life she was about to bring into this world. He wanted to eliminate her fears and troubles and make her smile – she was beautiful now, he could only imagine how her beauty must grow when she was happy.

The sound of his phone interrupted him from his thoughts – it was a text from Thea. Their mother was awake and asking for him. Forgetting all thoughts of coffee and food, he stole one last look at the unhappy beauty in front of him and headed back upstairs.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO

Felicity stared down at her table, scrolling aimlessly through pages and pages of data from Palmer Technologies. Every once and awhile their would be a picture of Ray or her and Ray and she'd have to stop and get her hormones back in check. She didn't think she was sad so much about losing Ray as she was her child losing a parent – just like she had.

There were probably a million other places she should be right now but after her doctor's appointment this morning she hadn't felt herself capable of driving. Her doctor was worried about her – the stress and the loss and the anxiety wasn't good for her or the baby. She'd felt fine until after the appointment, she really had – but now she was starting to think the doctor was right.

Accidentally walking past the viewing room for the newborns and seeing so many lucky couples watch their newborns had struck something unexpected in her. She'd been suddenly unable to breathe or stand luckily finding a chair nearby. A nurse noticed her and went and found her doctor. They'd both said it was an anxiety attack and she really shouldn't be alone right now let alone drive.

Since she'd just moved to Starling City from Central City a few weeks ago, she didn't really know anybody here. And since they wouldn't just let her call a cab and had even threatened to admit her, she'd done the one thing she hadn't wanted to.

She called her mother.

Donna Smoak was more than eager to take a sudden flight from Las Vegas to Starling City, California to pick her daughter up from the hospital and stay with her for a few weeks. Felicity, on the other hand, was mortified. Especially since it meant spending hours and hours in the hospital cafeteria waiting for said mother to arrive. Luckily Donna had found a flight right away (thanks to Felicity's extended bank account) and would get there in just a few short hours.

It didn't make the wait any easier, though, to sit in that cafeteria alone with only her thoughts, her cup of caffeine-free tea (something she sorely missed, caffeine) and her tablet to keep her company. At one point she'd felt like someone was staring at her but when she'd looked up there hadn't been anyone there. Just the flash of a green-sweat shirted man walking away . . .

"Lissy, my baby!"

Years of dread and therapy driven anxiety filled her as she looked up to find her mother coming toward her. Hey, didn't the doctors want her to stay _away_ from things that would stress her out?

To Be Continued . . .


	2. Chapter 1: Lost In The Light

Chapter One: Lost In The Light

Author's note: Okay, here's another installment of this Oliver and Felicity's story. I do have to say I'm not a doctor and I've never had kids or cancer so just don't get too hung up on the medical stuff. The chapter title comes from the band The Bahamas – I love this song. I first heard it on The Originals and have listened to it hundreds of times since. That being said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Oliver had been through more than his fair share of crucibles in the last seven years. Five years away from his family fighting and surviving just to live to see another day only to come back and start a crusade to protect his city and make up for his wrongdoings. He'd bested countless enemies over the years both in his years away from home and the two years he'd been back. There had been setbacks, sure, that always served to haunt him.

He'd failed to stop the Undertaking that his mother, father, and Malcolm Merlyn had been involved in and it had cost him not only the lives of over five hundred Starling City residents but also the life of his best friend Tommy Merlyn. He later stopped Malcolm, Slade Wilson, and many others but had also lost his ex-girlfriend and fellow vigilante Sara Lance.

And now it looked like he was going to lose his mother as well.

"Oliver, the doctors need you to sign this – it shows that you understand what the document is and that you'll honor it when it happens."

"Don't you mean if? If something happens?" Oliver's hand clenched under the small table in front of him. "Mom he said it himself, there's a chance that you could get better. Five months ago, when we had to rush you to the hospital. He said . . ." Oliver let out an exasperated breath. Moira closed her eyes for a moment, also letting out a breath. "You'll get better. You have too."

Moira opened her eyes, turning to Thea in the corner. "Sweetheart, won't you go get yourself and your brother something for dinner from the cafeteria."

"What!? No… Mom you can't be serious. I'm not going anywhere – Mom you're going to be fine!" Thea stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in and came to stand next to her brother.

"Thea, just go." Oliver sighed, shaking his head.

"Ollie!" Thea protested.

Oliver scowled and pushed his sister out the door, closing it behind her. Moments later the door opened again and the doctor came through. Oliver shook his head and turned back to his mother. "I'm not signing it, you're not dying, end of discussion." Tears ran down Moira's face.

"Mr. Queen, if I may . . ." The doctor started. Oliver rolled his eyes. "We'd like nothing more than for your mother to recover from this and we have been doing everything that we can in fact to achieve that—"

"I swear to god if you say 'but' I will rip your tongue out of your mouth!" Oliver growled.

"Oliver Jonas Queen!" Moira shouted.

Just then Oliver's phone rang in his pocket. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket – it was Roy. "What?" He spoke into the phone.

"We've got a lead. Dig's military contacts were able to contact someone within the company. You were right, Oliver. The company's corrupt – just a front." Roy told him.

"I'll be right there." Oliver let out a breath, hanging up his phone and putting it back in his pocket. "Mom, Doctor – I have to go. We will continue this conversation later." Before either one could utter a word, Oliver left the room closing the door behind him. The energy completely left his body and he collapsed to his knees on the floor. He knew he needed to meet Roy, Diggle, and Laurel but right now he just couldn't. He couldn't . . .

He'd just had a conversation about the end of his mother's life _with_ his mother . . .

His head was swimming, absolutely swimming and right then he could probably throw up. He closed his eyes and looked up, letting out a breath . . .

. . . completely obvious to the blonde feeling equally helpless down the hall.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO

Felicity swore for the hundredth time, grasping tightly to the railing attached to the wall outside her hospital room. She was _so_ sick of hospitals at this point – completely. Four months of on and off again bed rest, countless doctor visits, and three bouts of false labor (well, today made four) and she was definitely ready for this baby to come out already. More than ready.

Unfortunately her baby wasn't as ready as she was considering she was now a week over her due date.

"Oh god . . ." She gasped, her hand on her back and she leaned over further. Her back was hurting so much, she didn't think she could take this much longer. A tear dropped down her cheek and she brought her hand around to rest on her swollen abdomen.

Everything had been imploding in on her since Ray died, maybe even before. Sometimes she wished she could go back to just being a simple IT girl . . .

Ugh why did her mother have to be so late? She'd called her mother when she'd thought she'd gone into labor in the ambulance on the way to the hospital – Donna was at a spa appointment but would be there soon enough. Then Felicity had been told she wasn't in labor and after telling Donna, the older woman told her she'd be there to pick her up in an hour.

That had been four hours ago, and Felicity just wanted to go home.

A noise down the hall broke her from her thoughts and she looked up. There was a man down the hall outside of a room – and he was on his knees. His eyes were closed, his head facing up toward the ceiling.

She slowly stood up straight(er) and found herself watching the man. The look of despair and anguish marred his beautiful face and creeping into his fit (gorgeous) body. He looked like he felt about as hopeless as she did.

Was he sick? Or maybe someone he knew? Or had he lost someone already?

Wait, she knew – her nurse earlier had been talking to another nurse. His family was known in Starling City (not that she knew since she hadn't been here long nor did she follow the local gossip) and someone had . . . hmm – was it cancer? Yeah, she's pretty sure that's what the nurses had said. They had thought she was asleep but really she didn't sleep much anymore with the enlarged stomach, swollen feet, aching back, and small bladder.

Judging by the affliction on his face, it wasn't him that was sick or suffering – no, it had to be someone else in his life. Someone important to him. Wife? Brother? Friend? Parent?

The compassion is his torment was enthralling to her – this man knew how to _love_.

Oooh – a twinge in her abdomen cut off her appreciation of this broken man. "Babe, help me out here . . ." She hissed, both hands now on the railing. Her legs were starting to feel like jelly – maybe a stroll down the hall by herself hadn't been such a good idea . . .

She looked up – the gorgeous sad man was gone. Hmm . . . she hadn't even heard or seen him get up. Her knees started to buckle and her eyes widened. Frack . . .

"Felicity, sweetie, what are you doing out of bed!" Before she knew what was happening, her mother was leading her back into the room and onto the bed.

"Thanks, mom." Felicity sighed in reluctant relief, shifting on the bed to find a comfortable position. "Even though you're late . . ."

"Lissy, I came as soon as I could." Donna took a seat on the chair next to Felicity's bed. "Now how are you feeling? How soon will my grandbaby be here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Felicity sighed. "The doctor says I'm close, but they can't induce for a couple of days – possibly a week at the most." She leaned back, lifting her legs to lounge on the bed.

"Well," Donna rolled her eyes. "I always did say those doctors were useless."

It was then Felicity's turn to roll her eyes and decide to ignore that particular comment. "Anyway, we're definitely in the homestretch now. Which means mostly bedrest for the rest of this torture-fest. Not that I can really move around much anyway. I'm pretty much a beached whale at this point."

"Oh but you're a very cute whale baby," Donna gushed.

"Mom! Not helping." Felicity groaned, rubbing her sore back. "Can we just go home, please? These hospital beds are so uncomfortable and I just need a nap…"

"Yes, yes of course." Donna nodded. "What do you need me to do, Lissy?"

"Can you just go find the doctor so that I can sign the discharge papers?" Felicity closed her eyes, laying back on the bed. As uncomfortable as the bed was, it still felt good to stretch out and get off of her feet.

"Sure thing, babe." Donna bolted up out of the room.

Felicity let out a deep breath, closing her eyes. She was excited to meet her baby but man if she wasn't sick of being pregnant. She opened her eyes-

-and instantly regretted it because the entire room was spinning. Oh god…

She swallowed, feeling the practically un-edible hospital food she'd had earlier rising in her stomach. She swallowed again, panic rising within her. "Mom…" Her voice was small. Her eyes widened, her heart beating rapidly. Her fingers fumbled for the call button but then she remembered that she had dropped it on the floor earlier… "Mom… ugh…"

Oh god… now her head was pounding and she didn't think the pain she felt near her ribs was the baby kicking—

"H-help…" She shouted as loud as she could, which wasn't loud at all. Her senses overloaded, panic at an all-time high right about now. Tears fell full force down her cheeks. Grasping at straws, she reached out and grabbed the clock on the table next to her bed. She cried out and chucked it as hard as she could manage at the door. It shattered loudly against the door, clattering on the floor.

"Please, someone – please!"

After a few moments she began to lose hope that anyone would reach her in time. Getting out of the bed was out of the question – if she thought her legs felt like jelly before now they were like lead.

And just like that the door burst open.

"Mrs. Palmer?!" It was her nurse – Susan.

"Aaahhh how many times have I told you not to call me that?" Felicity groaned, leaning forward holding her stomach.

"Yes yes – now what's going on here? What are you feeling, my dear?"

"Ugh… oh god I'm gonna puke…" Felicity put her hand over her mouth. Susan grabbed a bowl from the counter across the room and soon was holding it under Felicity's mouth. Though as much as she felt like she was going to throw up, it didn't happen. She still felt weak, though, as Susan helped her sit up.

"Other than the nausea, what are you feeling?"

Felicity swallowed, letting out a deep breath. "My head is pounding. Ouch….oooh there's this pain above my stomach, but I know it's not the baby."

Susan nodded. "Okay. I'm just going to go get the doctor and we'll see what she says."

Felicity exhaled, shaking her head. "N-no don't leave me please!"

"Miss Felicity, it's okay – you need to calm down." Susan told her. "I will be right back with the doctor."

"My mom went to go get her…" Felicity breathed.

Twenty minutes later they'd established that the reason Felicity wasn't feeling well was because her blood pressure spiked slightly. Luckily the doctor had been able to get it under control and – much to Felicity's dismay – was able to avoid inducing labor or doing a C-section. They said that it was better for the baby to be ready to come out on its own rather than all the risks that came with an unnatural birth plan.

Either way, it meant at least another night (if not more) in the hospital – frack.

Luckily, though, her mother had agreed to go home for the night which meant she might actually get some sleep.

That is if the child in her womb would stop being so active.

to be continued…


	3. Chapter 2: Love Has A Quiet Voice

Author's note: Just a short little update for today, but I think you guys will like this one. The chapter title comes from Christina Perri's "The Words." Let me know what you think and what you want to see. Oh, and we're coming up on the birth so what do you think Felicity will name her little one?

Chapter Two: Love Has A Quiet Voice

"Good job tonight, guys. Roy, your aim is getting even better." Oliver set his bow in its place in the display against the wall. He flipped his green hood down and turned to his team – Diggle, Roy, and Laurel.

"Yeah, it's almost like breaking my leg left me better than ever." Roy chuckled. Diggle just rolled his eyes.

"We're still no closer to figuring this out, though. Yeah, we know the company is a front, but we have no idea what they're up to. Or if they're even active, considering their "CEO" is supposedly dead." Laurel pointed out, pulling the blonde wig and mask off. "Palmer, I think his name was."

"We'll figure it out eventually." Oliver simply said. "We have to."

"Agreed." Diggle nodded. "If even half of the things I've heard are true then California is in dire straits."

"Hey who's running the company, if the CEO is supposed to be dead?" Roy chimed in.

"I couldn't find anything." Laurel shrugged. "All information about him, his family and employees, has disappeared. It's almost like someone was able to pull it all offline."

"What about hard copies? Human resources, court filings, public documents?" Oliver said.

"That's all gone too." Laurel told him. "These people are good."

"Police records?" Diggle said.

Laurel shook her head. "My dad won't admit to knowing anything – I'm pretty sure he's on the case but he can't say anything."

"Which means this could be bigger than just the police." Oliver guessed. "Didn't you say the company is based in Central City?"

"Yeah – they have an office here too though. I guess it's closed up, though – the building was cleared out, empty." Laurel said.

Oliver let out a breath. "Okay – well, why don't we call it a night, back to it tomorrow? Dig, maybe A.R.G.U.S. can scrounge something up for us, maybe?" Diggle nodded. Rory and Laurel left, leaving the other two alone.

"How's your mom doing?" Diggle inquired.

Oliver ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head. "It's not good, John."

"Man, I'm sorry." Diggle sighed.

"They're already talking about wills and DNR's and last rite's . . ." Oliver shook his head. "It's just . . . bullshit. All this modern technology and medicine and all they can do is make her "comfortable" – whatever that means."

Diggle was quiet, letting Oliver say what he needed to.

"Thea's in denial, pulling attitude like always. Mom wants to baby her about it – she doesn't even know how sick Mom really is." Oliver let out a breath. "And when something finally does happen I'm the one who's going to have to take care of her, explain what happened, and everything else."

"You'll get through it, both of you. You're both strong." Diggle said.

"I hope so." Oliver sighed. "I was really hoping to find something more to hit tonight . . . ease some of this stress."

"We'll find something soon." Diggle assured him. "You need a ride home or to the hospital?"

"I've got the bike," Oliver said. "Mom's stable for the night so Thea and I are actually sleeping at home for once. I'm not really sure how tomorrow's going to go – depending on how mom is feeling."

"Okay." Diggle said. "You need anything, you give me and Lyla a call, okay? Even just to get Thea away from the hospital for a few days. Sara likes having her aunt Thea over." Oliver nodded. "'Night." Diggle ascended the Foundry stairs.

Oliver stayed behind for a few moments, just to savor the quiet. So much to do, so much on his mind, so much . . . too much. Saving Starling City, taking care of Thea and his mother, being Oliver Queen . . . just – too much.

He finally left the Foundry and picked a cranky Thea up from the hospital before the two headed back home to the Queen family mansion. Thea stomped her way upstairs, passing on dinner, and slammed her way into her room.

Oliver stood in the doorway of the house as Raisa came up to him, demanding both he and 'Miss Thea' eat their dinner. Also not hungry, Oliver declined. He took a shower and crashed early where his nightmares kept him company.

The next morning, the hospital called to inform him that his mother was feeling much better and asked that her children join her for an early lunch. After much fighting from both Raisa and himself, Oliver finally managed to shuffle Thea out of the house (and surprisingly, her mood was slightly improved.)

He left Thea and his mother in her room while he wandered down the hall to get some air. While his mother was feeling better, the previous conversation with her and the doctor the day before about her will still hung on his mind. It was hard to process that the woman who greeted them for brunch today, ordering the hospital staff around and complimenting Thea on her new outfit, was really so sick. The doctors told him that this was likely not to last – that many patients often have a sudden burst of energy before their last days.

He just couldn't do this anymore.

A few steps into the hall and around the corner and he stopped in his tracks. It was her – the sad, blonde, woman from the cafeteria months ago. He should really get back to Thea and his mother . . . but his feet remained planted.

She was right there, right in front of him. It had been months since he'd noticed her in the cafeteria and her stomach was quite a bit bigger but he still recognized her. She had stirred something within him that day – something no one had been able to for a long time, if ever.

She was holding on to a rail against the wall near the vending machines in the corner, leaning over and mumbling under her breath. A red robe was draped over her shoulders, partially open to reveal a light pink hospital gown over her growing bump. A look of distress graced her features and his face twitched.

Why was she alone again? He looked around – no one in sight. Where was the father of the baby she was carrying? Didn't she have any family with her? She seemed like she was in pain. At the very least, there should be a nurse with her or something.

Letting out a breath, Oliver continued forward toward her. He passed her and stood in front of the vending machine, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. Did he really need anything, no – but he didn't want to leave her alone.

Now that he was closer, he could hear how heavy she was breathing. She didn't acknowledge him, lost in her own little world. He wanted to say something, but what? He didn't want to scare her. He pretended to focus on the vending machine, like he couldn't decide what he wanted, hoping she'd say something or reach out to him.

She still wasn't wearing a ring of any kind – not that that meant anything these days. People didn't have to be married to have a child together. Still, he'd been standing there with her a while now and no one had come up to her or checked on her. No one even walked by. The hospital staff were so attentive to his mother – sometimes too much so – so why weren't they checking on this obviously distressed pregnant woman?

After a few moments, she finally looked up at him – almost startled but seemingly annoyed too. There was a look of feistiness in her expression that almost had him laughing but he didn't want to ruin the moment. Her body relaxed a little, at least she didn't seem like she was in so much pain anymore. He wanted to ask her if she was okay but somehow it didn't feel right.

Electricity sparked in the air between them as their eyes met. A slight blush swept across her cheeks and the slightest smirk peaked Oliver's mouth. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off:

"Mrs—"

The woman's head whipped to the side toward their interloper (a nurse, finally!), a furious glare on her face.

"Right, sorry – Felicity, we should really get you back to bed. The doctor wants to discuss a few things with you." The nurse rested her hand on the woman's – Felicity's – shoulder.

"Um . . . maybe the chair would be nice?" Felicity blushed again, glancing back and forth between the nurse and Oliver.

"How are you feeling? Any cramps?" The nurse crossed the few steps to where a wheelchair rested against the wall. She unfolded it and wheeled it behind Felicity.

"Uh uh." Felicity shook her head. The nurse raised her eyebrow. "Okay, maybe just my back. And my knees." The blonde rolled her eyes. "And everywhere."

"We'll see what the doctor will let us do about that, okay?" The nurse nodded, helping Felicity lower herself into the chair.

The nurse started wheeling her patient away before the blonde turned back. "I highly suggest the animal crackers – they're the only edible thing in there!" The nurse smirked and the two of them disappeared around a corner.

Oliver still stood in front of the vending machine, speechless.

"Ollie!" Thea appeared down the hall, rolling her eyes. "Come on, the food's here!"

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFO

"Who was that?" Her nurse Susan asked Felicity as she wheeled her back to her room.

Felicity shrugged. "No clue. Just some guy. He seemed lost."

"Well he certainly was delicious." Susan chuckled.

"He wasn't bad, yeah." Felicity blushed, happy that the nurse was behind her and couldn't see her. He was the man she'd seen the day before down the hall from her room - the sad and broken looking one. He certainly was 'delicious', gorgeous even. And . . . she was pretty sure he was only standing there to make sure she was okay and wasn't interested in the vending machine at all. But . . . she wasn't going to tell the nurse all that. "Any chance I'll get out of here today? I am dying to sleep in my own bed. The service here really is great, but you guys could use a different mattress supplier."

Susan laughed. "I'll have to agree with you on that one. Even the beds in the on-call rooms are uncomfortable. Although, whether or not you go home is up to the doctor." Felicity sighed as they entered her room where the doctor was already waiting for them.

"Come on, doc – let me out of here!" She pleaded. "Or, for god's sake, induce me and let's get this show on the road!"

Her doctor smirked, tapping his pen on the chart in his hand. "Unfortunately, we can't induce yet. We'd really like to give that baby of yours at least another week in there if we can. With the stress, the high blood pressure, and everything else the extra time in the womb will really give your baby a great head start once you do finally go into labor. If it happens sooner than that, then we'll know the little one is ready."

"Ugh, you're killin' me here doc." Felicity sighed as Susan helped her back into the bed.

"Trust me, once your little one is in your arms you'll forget all about this." The doctor assured her.

"I'm gonna hold you to that." Felicity narrowed her eyes. "So . . . if you can't induce me can I go home?"

The doctor let out a breath. "Well . . . your blood pressure's dropped, you're not dilated at all, and your numbers are all good. I might be inclined to let you go home." Felicity squealed, clapping. "If, and only if, you promise to stay off your feet." Felicity nodded. "No salt and no stress." Felicity nodded again. "And if anything changes – your water breaks, your cramps get worse, bleeding – anything, I want you to call me straight away and then come in. Okay?"

"Got it." Felicity nodded, ready to grab her phone and call her mother.

"Okay then, before we get you discharged let's go over the birth plan one more time and we'll get the room and everything set up so that it is ready when you are." The doctor said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Felicity nodded, ready to get the hell out of there – back to her bed and her precious computers.

to be continued . . .


	4. Chapter 3: I Don't Know If I Can Do It

Chapter Three: I Don't Know If I Can Do It

Author's notes: So, so very sorry about how long it took to update - I know we're all anxious for Oliver and Felicity to finally meet. The chapter title comes from REM's "Losing My Religion" – a truly amazing and iconic song. The song works for the chapter in more than a couple ways for both Oliver and Felicity.

More than a few days later, her children watched as the Moira Queen they'd grown up to love, respect, and sometimes fear disintegrated in front of their very eyes. They were told that her days of feeling better were pretty much gone. They'd finally told Thea everything – how sick her mother was, what was going to happen in the next few weeks. All the paperwork was done now. The will, the DNR, the final care instructions, the funeral plans. Moira wanted to go home and spend her last days with her two children in her own bed.

On her last day in the hospital, Oliver and Thea made sure the house was ready for her. They helped Raisa and the other few staff clean the house, cook Moira's favorite meals, and set up her room for maximum comfort.

The atmosphere around the house was somber, not unlike it had been when Oliver and his father had disappeared at sea. This time, the Queen family was losing their matriarch and although they had time to prepare it didn't make it any easier.

The grim reaper's clock was ticking for Moira Queen and none felt it more keenly than her elder child.

Oliver had seen death more than his fair share – he'd been the cause of quite a few as well. He'd watched his father kill himself right in front of him so he could survive on the island. He'd watched Ivo shoot Shado right in front of him. He'd watched Tommy take his last breath during the Undertaking and heard Laurel's screams from outside. He carried Sara's cold, stiff body to the freezer of the club and later to her finally resting place in the grave her parents had set for her years before her actual death. And now . . . he was forced to watch helplessly as the strong woman he's always known as his mother deteriorated right in front of him.

The Arrow could use something to beat senseless.

And that was exactly what he was doing. He was going to find out who this Palmer guy was that ran the shady corporation that they were looking into. They'd first caught wind of it when they were shutting down the dealers selling some new drug on the streets. They learned that not only were these people selling drugs, but they were also into selling weapons, insider trading, embezzlement, and human trafficking. They'd also heard whispers of bio-weapons and nuclear testing.

There simply wasn't any question about it, these people needed to be stopped.

Through some old army contacts, Diggle had found that an ex Australian Intelligence agent had been working with Palmer and was one of the likely candidates for who was running P.T. now. Of course, they still hadn't found anything on Palmer's family or next of kin or where this ex AI agent could possibly be.

The only lead they really had was the abandoned P.T. office in Starling City – well, there was the office in Central City but Oliver didn't want to be that far away from his mother.

So . . . that's where Oliver was now. It was dark out now – well past midnight. Not only was the empty office void of activity, but the usually busy street outside was dead as well save for nighttime stragglers.

He searched through the office with a small flashlight, looking for things Laurel might have missed. While the Black Canary had come a long way from playing dress up and fighting in the name of her slain sister, there were a few things the daytime lawyer still had to learn.

Especially when it came to the investigative part of wearing a costume.

Going through the paperwork, there really wasn't much there. Business numbers, schematics for building schematics, profit margins, and a bunch of other numbers stuff that all seemed like a foreign language to a man who'd dropped out of four colleges.

It seemed like all personal information on Palmer, the ex-Australian Intelligence agent, and even the illegal stuff had been disposed of. What was left behind barely gave any hint that the place was even a business.

He was just about to throw in the towel in favor of going home to check on his mother when he happened across a document. Quickly scanning over it, he found that it was a contract promoting Palmer's Executive Assistant to Co-Owner. This EA – F. Smoak which was all he could make out from her messy handwriting – owned half of Palmer Technologies with Palmer himself. The contract was dated just two years prior.

Excited for a breakthrough, he looked through everything again. He found "F. Smoak" on a couple of other documents – most of them of no importance – but then he noticed something else:

On more than a few of the documents dated more recently, there was a hyphen and Palmer behind "F. Smoak." So . . . F. Smoak-Palmer . . .

Palmer's wife!

Finally, a lead to go on. They could find the marriage license and get Palmer's wife's full name . . . and then find her and the Australian, figure out who else was involved – and then bring the whole damn operation down.

The cellphone in the pocket of his pants buzzed – only his fellow vigilantes had the number.

It was Diggle with a text – Raisa had called him looking for Oliver;

Thea was missing and their mother wasn't doing well at all.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

Name, name, what's in a name?

Well, apparently it was a lot when you didn't have one. Not that Felicity didn't have one – she did, in fact – four of them actually. Well, three really because as soon as she found the time she was definitely going to drop the last one . . .

"Lissy, sweetie . . . I was just about to make dinner. Is there anything specific you're hungry for?"

Felicity looked down to her mondo-stomach (four days overdue and counting at this point) – to the bump that didn't have a name (or a sex, really because she didn't know yet). She looked back up to where her mother stood in the doorway of her room. "Um . . . I dunno about dinner but I could _really_ go for some mint chocolate chip . . ." She shrugged.

Her mother smirked. "You and your mint chip. Well, it is one of the last times you can eat whatever you want so . . . Sure, a small bowl of mint chip it is."

"Thanks, Mom." Felicity could practically hear her taste buds scream for joy. Donna nodded and left the room.

A shot to the kidney caught her attention and Felicity rubbed the sore spot. "You're going to like mint chip too, aren't you kid?" Another shot to her insides gave her the answer.

She'd been using her time stuck in bed to finally figure out a name for the little one who'd been sharing her body for the last nine months. When Ray had still been alive, they'd only known a few days so names had never really come up.

Nor that she'd want anything to do with any name "Ray" (or whatever his name really was) came up with.

She'd sporadically been in contact with Detective Lance since the incident – according to him they hadn't found out much at all yet. He even seemed hesitant to tell her anything, sometimes she wondered if there was something he wasn't telling her. She hadn't even been approached by anyone at Palmer Tech – other than the assistant she'd had. That had only been to fire him – since the company was facing fraud and embezzlement charges (she was sure there were more, but no one had given her any specifics) she didn't really need an assistant. Not even Ray's lawyer had contacted her – she could only imagine because he was in on everything and took to ground.

She had been pretty busy growing a human, dealing with her mother, and trying to manage her health (and sanity). Honestly, she didn't even want to think about having to dismantle the fake company that her fake husband had used as a front for whatever criminal activity he was involved with.

Very, very soon (hopefully much sooner than later) she was going to be a mother. She alone would be responsible for caring for the slimy little human that was comprised of half her genes (hopefully more than half though.). Though she didn't know much about being a mother (her own wasn't really a great role model) she did know that she would do anything and everything to protect her or him from the evils of the world around them – which included any enemy her sperm donor had that would come after them. Well, and his allies too, 'cuz they probably weren't the best people to be around either.

That was precisely why she'd erased every traceable file and document that tied her to Ray and Palmer Technologies and why she planned to drop Palmer from her name. Going back to Smoak and giving her child the last name Smoak would make it a hell of a lot more difficult for anyone involved in Ray's nastiness to find her or their (her) kid.

No one was going to hurt the child that resided within her. Her baby would never know the pain that his or her so-called "father" had put Felicity through. He or she would grow up safe, happy, and loved – in an environment that would be supportive, understanding, and conducive to who they were and wanted to be.

She was actually pretty terrified about the whole thing – was she really ready for this? Could she be a better mother than her own?

Now, the only thing left to do was to actually _have_ the baby – and Felicity was more than ready for that. It was definitely time.

For the next few hours while she ate the bowl of mint chip her mother brought her, Felicity scoured the web looking for natural, nontoxic methods and home remedies for inducing labor. She tried every one she could and found reasonable – short of having sex because, yeah, there wasn't really anyone around to help her with that.

Finally frustrated, she turned on an old movie and cried herself to sleep remembering the first few months of her marriage before the man she'd thought was her husband started to change. They'd been the perfect match (or so she thought), equal on every level. They were going to do so many good things together with Palmer Technologies . . . now she just wondered if those were lies he fed her just to keep her happy.

Her last thought before falling asleep was of holding her child in her arms, imagining that milky baby smell and the soft baby skin . . .

Later when she woke up, she was in the hospital – sharing the room with an older female patient she was pretty sure was dying.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

It didn't take long for Oliver to find his baby sister. When he called Diggle, the other man told him what happened. His mother had taken a turn for the worst and Thea took off. When Raisa couldn't get a hold of Oliver, she called Diggle – who contacted Oliver.

Oliver held his breath during the entire call. He'd known about the possibility of losing his mother for over a year but now that the reality was closing in he didn't think he could do this. He'd tried so hard to be strong for his mom and Thea and everybody else . . .

He just didn't have it in him.

He'd take twenty more years on Lian Yu just to not have to go through this. As cruel and vindictive as Moira Queen could be (and had shown on multiple occasions) she was still his mother. She'd tucked him in as a boy, introduced him to his baby sister for the first time, drove him to soccer practice, and put up with all the bullshit he'd pulled as a teenager. He couldn't even imagine life without her.

It wasn't hard to figure out that Thea was dealing with the same thing.

He found her at the cemetery, curled up in a ball on the grass – bawling and crying her eyes out next to Tommy Merlyn's headstone.

The sight alone was enough to cripple him – Tommy had been there for his sister when he couldn't be. He'd never been able to thank his best friend enough for that, for looking after their sister while he was away. And now that Tommy was gone, he knew that Thea had lost her best friend as well.

At the same time, he'd been jealous of how close Thea and Tommy had grown when he'd returned to Starling City. He remembered resenting them both for moving on while he'd literally been fighting for his life.

Now, he only wished Tommy were here now. He just knew his childhood friend would know what to say to Thea, to comfort her while she lost her mother – for Tommy himself knew all too well what that felt like. He hadn't even known he was really Thea's brother – but he'd been more of a brother to her than Oliver had even been. Oliver had no clue what to say – Thea and he hadn't exactly gotten along much anymore since he'd returned. He pushed her away to protect her and she hated the secrets he kept from her.

He had to do something though – their mother was dying and neither of them would forgive themselves if they weren't there for her last moments.

He moved forward and knelt down beside her in the dark, reach out to touch her shoulder.

"Go away, Ollie!" She cried, pounding the wet ground beneath her.

He cleared his throat, shaking his own tears away. "Thea, we have to go." His voice cracked.

"No . . ." She crawled over, away from him.

"It's time . . . she's ready to go." He tried again. "She'd want us there."

"Fuck you!" Thea sprang up, backing away from him. "You weren't here for so long – you _died._ You weren't here – you didn't have to watch her fall apart when the rescue squad couldn't find the ship." She heaved, backing up more. "When the cemetery workers put up the headstones in our back yard. When Laurel would keep showing up at our door, wanting to know if you and Sara had been found – or when she stopped."

Oliver swallowed, wanting to go forward but not wanting to spook her.

"You weren't there when Walter finally got her to smile again and then she'd feel guilty about it or the day they got married and she broke down because _you_ weren't there to walk her down the aisle. So fuck you Oliver!" She back up again until her back collided with Tommy's headstone. She gasped, crying out. "Tommy was there – for everything. Even when I told him I hated him. And now . . . now Tommy's gone. And as far as I'm concerned, I have two dead brothers – because the Oliver Queen that came back isn't my brother." Oliver stiffened – he didn't know what to do. "And _now_ I'm losing my mother . . . I won't have anyone."

"I'm sorry," Oliver said. "I'm sorry that I was gone and I'm sorry that you feel so alone – I do too, all the time." Oliver moved forward – Thea didn't move. "I've been a terrible brother . . . god, I wish Tommy were here too – and dad and Sara and so many other people. But they're not." He cleared his throat. "We're all that mom has left – and she'd want us there now. The rest we're just going to have to figure out together. Can we do that?" Thea sniffled, hesitating before nodding. "Now, I know you don't like me much right now but let's just pull through – for Mom."

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the over-crowded hospital – there'd been a pile-up on the interstate and not many beds to go around. Diggle, Roy, and Laurel were already there in the waiting room – Lyla was home with little Sara, Walter was on a plane back from his business trip, and Detective Lance was stuck at the police station. The doctors informed Oliver and Thea that their mother was asleep – near the end now but it may be a few hours or days.

Oliver wasn't happy that his mother was forced to share a room with another patient in the ER (he'd offered to pay an obscene amount to get her a private room) because of the pile-up but apparently there simply wasn't another room to be had. Until another room opened up, it would just have to do.

Right now Thea was in the room with her – he hadn't worked up the courage to go in yet.

The chaos of the ER was nonexistent as his blood boiled in his ears. This was it – soon Moira would be gone. Where did they go from here?

Honestly, Oliver didn't think he could do this.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

She came to with the sound of her mother's voice in the distance, reaching a decibel of angry that she was all too familiar with. As her eyes started to open, the blurred figures of her mom and someone in a lab coat across the way slowly started to focus. Her mother's hands were waving like crazy as she yelled. The doctor looked frustrated yet sympathetic – what was going on?

"—s about money then we can more than pay and I've already told you that." Donna pointed at the doctor as she spoke. Felicity wiped her eyes and groaned, her entire body numb.

"Please, keep your voice down." The doctor held out his hand.

"I will as soon as you give me a plausible reason why my daughter is sharing a room with a cancer patient in the ER – she's having a baby she should be in her own room on the OB floor!" Donna yelled.

"Mom!" Felicity yelled – well, it came out more as a loud whisper. Donna and the doctor turned her way.

"Miss Smoak," The doctor started – Felicity was grateful she didn't have to hear her other name. "As I was telling your mother, all beds on all floors are completely full. With the pile up on the interstate, we just simply don't have any private rooms available at this time." Donna rolled her eyes, still not happy with his response. Felicity, however, had other things on her mind.

A dull pain spread its way up and down her back. "Ugh . . . it's fine just . . ." She swallowed. "What the hell happened? How did I get here?"

Donna rushed to her side. "Lissy, sweetie, don't you remember? I went up to your room to get your empty bowl and you wouldn't wake up. Then you woke up in the ambulance and were saying the strangest things . . ."

Felicity shook her head, panicked eyes turning to the doctor. "I don't . . . I don't . . . ah . . ."

"Miss Smoak?" The doctor said. "Where are you feeling pain?"

"My back . . . oooh ow!" She tried to breathe, but the pain was too intense. "Where's my doctor? We have a plan, we . . . ahh!"

"Unfortunately with the pile-up, your regular doctor is upstairs operating on a mom-to-be who was in the crash . . . I'll be stepping in. I'm Doctor Fiona Lawrence." The doctor picked up a chart. "It seems your blood pressure has spiked again and we'd like to induce you before it causes any harm to you or your baby."

"Yes!" Felicity breathed a sigh of relief even as another pain struck her right in the side. "Frack, yes let's do that!"

Dr. Lawrence chuckled, nodding. "Well we actually induced you a half hour ago – we broke your water. However, it may take some time once the labor actually starts."

"Ugh." Felicity huffed.

"I know, the worst part." Dr. Lawrence said. "Ideally we'd set you up in a private room where you could relax as the labor progresses – unfortunately with the pile up there just aren't any rooms available and I am so sorry about that. I assure you we will do everything we can to make you comfortable."

"It's fine." Felicity breathed – honestly there was nothing the hospital could do so why even get angry about it?

"As soon as you're in the advanced stages of later we'll take you to the operating room and get this show on the road. From your chart, I know you're intent on a natural birth." Felicity nodded adamantly – the thought of going under anesthesia freaked the hell out of her. "We will go with that as long as we can – the minute I feel you or the baby are in distress I won't hesitate to switch to a c-section. Okay?"

Felicity gulped, nodding.

"I'll be back to check on you – in the meantime try to relax. You get to meet your baby today!" With that, Dr. Lawrence disappeared from the room.

Donna sank to the chair beside her bed, grabbing hold of her hand. "Really, though, there has to be a room they can put you in."

Felicity sighed, gritting her teeth through the ache. "Just let it go, Mom. It's fine."

"You're the CEO of a company for crying out loud, there should be something they can do." Donna continued.

"Mom!" Felicity growled. "Just stop!"

Donna deflated, letting out a sigh. "Oh, alright. How are you feeling, baby?"

"Just peachy." Felicity lay back, her hands on her rounded belly. Honestly, she'd feel so much better if her mother would just chill out.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

When Oliver finally worked up the courage to enter his mother's room, he let out an exhausted breath. Dig, Roy, and Laurel kept asking him how he was – if they asked one more time he swore he'd put his fist through a wall.

Thea had fallen asleep on a small cot in their mother's room, exhausted from bawling her eyes out at the cemetery and again when she'd seen her mother asleep and looking so still. He'd tried to keep his sister quiet for the patient on the other side of the curtain. He still wasn't happy about the shared room situation but just didn't have the energy to fight it any further. He knew the hospital was swamped, but it wasn't exactly ideal to watch your mother die with strangers on the other side of the room.

Not that they'd met or even seen the strangers – but just knowing they were there was still unsettling nonetheless.

He stood in the doorway, out of sight from the curtain but far enough from his mother that he could still breathe. She still hadn't woken up – the doctors weren't even sure if she would before . . .

He couldn't even think it.

He was beyond tired but refused to sleep. Thea needed him to be strong and the thought of sleeping through her last moments felt wrong.

Soon they'd be dealing with funeral plans and press conferences and what was next? Thea may be nineteen, but she was still a child in so many ways. He couldn't even fathom that he'd be the closest she'd have to a parent now.

He let out a breath and turned his head, leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes, shutting out the world for just a moment. Just one moment to stop thinking about what lay ahead . . .

A slight mumble caught his ears and his eyes shot open. From where his head was turned, he could see on the other side of the curtain. A woman lay asleep in the bed – a pregnant blonde woman –

The woman from the hall and the cafeteria.

She was mumbling in her sleep, something distressing her as her hands rested on the swell of her stomach. He took a few steps forward to her side of the curtain. She was alone – again. Geez . . .

He happened to catch sight of a chart in the plastic case attached to the wall – he didn't mean to, but he saw the name on the chart: F. Smoak.

Warning bells erupted in his brain – his body tensed into Arrow mode;

The blonde woman he'd kept running into was Ray Palmer of Palmer Technology's executive assistant turned _wife_.

He swallowed, frozen.

He'd just assumed that Palmer's wife was just as guilty and involved in this mess as Palmer himself. For all he knew, she was.

But the woman he'd had a few brief interactions with didn't seem anything evil as the things they'd heard about Palmer . . .

She mumbled in her sleep again, her nose and forehead crinkling. Where the hell were the nurses? Thinking back, that was why she was always alone when he saw her –

Palmer was supposedly dead.

Why was she in the hospital as Smoak though? Was she hiding? Did she fear being arrested for her husband's crimes?

"Shame, isn't it?"

Oliver jumped slightly – not that he'd let anyone know that – and turned to find Detective Lance behind him.

"You guys are looking into the Palmer case, right? I've gathered as much from how much Laurel's been pushing me for information." Lance let out a breath. Oliver just nodded. "By that look on your face, you just figured out that Miss Smoak is Palmer's widow . . . well, as much of a widow as one can be when the marriage was a fraud."

"Detective Lance, I'm not sure—" Oliver started.

"She's not involved." Lance told him point blank. "She was duped by him as much as the rest of the world – she only found out what he was really doing when he was killed."

"She's pregnant." Oliver managed to blurt out.

"Yeah . . ." Lance nodded. "Now I'm not _officially_ on the case . . . but if I _were_ , I would guess – no, I'd know that as Palmer's widow she'd be a target for whoever took him out. Probably to gain access to his "company" and funds. Officially, the so-called cops probably wouldn't be interested in the widow, might even view her as a suspect. And the FBI – well, let's just say she's probably as much a target to them as the guys who did this. Too bad there wasn't someone who could protect her, make sure her and that baby have a fighting chance to start a new life away from the bullshit that sleaze left behind."

The gears turned in Oliver's (the Arrow's) head but he was still frozen. As Lance patted him on the shoulder and disappeared from the room, the beeping of machines broke him from his trance.

His mother's machines . . . something was wrong.

He lunged to the other side of curtain to find his mother seizing and Thea at her side. Minutes later, the doctors were wheeling his mother's still body out of the room. As he dragged Thea from the room, he looked back –

A pair of eyes were staring right into his – Miss Smoak. The doctors were wheeling her out as well – she was having her baby.

In that moment, he vowed with every fiber of his being that he would do everything in his power to protect her.

Later, he would realize it was inevitable because he'd already been in love with her before Lance had even talked to him.

to be continued . . .


	5. Chapter4:All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

Author's Note: I know, I know it's been too long since I've updated. I am sorry about that but I did lose the drive all my stories were on so I've basically had to start from scratch on all of them. Anyway, this update is shorter than I wanted but I've learned not to question the muse so there ya go. The title for the chapter comes from the song "Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson. Any Grey's Anatomy fan should recognize it but if you don't, check it out it's a great song. So, let me know what you think and have a great week! (As much as we can anyway during hiatus time).

Chapter Four: All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

Donna Smoak fidgeted in the uncomfortable, plastic hospital chair. It had been hours since she'd gotten an update – even longer since she'd been able to properly breathe without the stinging pain in her heart.

Nobody would tell her anything – nobody would tell her what happened. Nobody would explain why her baby girl and new grand baby were still being worked on when the delivery was over hours ago.

She'd fainted when the doctor first told her. A fine looking older man in scrubs approached her – Felicity was in the ICU and her new grandson in the NICU – something about Felicity losing too much blood and the baby inhaling fluid from the womb. Donna had watched enough doctor shows to know that none of those letters meant anything good . . . the last thing she remembered before she hit the floor was the doctor asking her if she was okay. Five hours later, she was over her momentary panic attack but still freaking out. And, she still didn't know how Felicity and the baby were.

Why wouldn't anyone tell her anything?

She was terrified – Felicity and this new little baby were her world. They were all she had left and if she lost the two of them . . .

If she could just get an update . . .

She looked up through the tears in her eyes – the nice looking doctor was walking toward her.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

Of the many, many people who attended Moira Queen's grand funeral, few truly knew who she really was at all. Most only knew her as the woman who'd aided in the total destruction of the Glades and got off with barely a wrist slap. Others as the woman who ran for mayor before her condition forced her to withdraw. It was only Oliver and Thea who knew her as a mother – the woman who raised them and watched out for them.

And now she was gone.

What came next, Oliver truly didn't know. Despite her mistakes, she'd still been his mother. And Thea . . . she was so young. How could he possibly help her through this when he himself didn't have any clue what he was doing?

Luckily things had been quiet for the Arrow and his team. They were still looking into Palmer Tech – though Oliver had yet to tell his partners of his discovery of the widowed Mrs. Palmer. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was going to do about that yet either.

For some unexplained reason, he was sure of her innocence – but how to explain that to Diggle and the others? His connection to her – to Felicity – had been instant the first time he'd seen her in the cafeteria months ago. They had yet to officially meet but she continued to consume his every thought . . . even distracting him from the grief of his mother's passing. Of all the things that he already felt for her, the drive to protect her and her newborn child was by far the strongest.

He'd continued to watch over her during last few days since he'd seen her in the hospital. He'd found out that both her and her baby were in critical condition – in fact, she was in a coma and had yet to awaken. A woman he'd learned was her mother was a constant presence, wandering back and forth between her daughter and grandson. He found he envied her and her right to spend time at Felicity's bedside. He wanted to be there for her and hold her hand, even be there to comfort her when she awoke . . . but that wasn't his place.

For now, he'd bide his time in the shadows, protecting her from afar. So far, there hadn't been any sign of a threat to her or the baby. Not even the presence of anyone from her husband's company or the police. Didn't Lance say she'd be a target? No, of course she was – she was the sole inheritor of a multi-billion-dollar company that served as a front for all sorts of criminal activity.

Soon someone would come after her, the baby, or her mother and the Arrow would be there to stop them.

"Hey Oliver, you okay?"

He blinked, looking up. Out of his thoughts, he was back in the lair. The arrowhead he'd been sharpening fell to the table. His grip was tight on the knife in his hand, the muscles in his arm and shoulder straining. Roy stood a few feet away, obviously wary and not interested in moving any closer. Oliver swallowed, letting the knife drop to the table. He blinked again. "I'm fine."

"O-kay . . ." Roy raised an eyebrow but didn't push the issue. _Smart boy_ , Oliver thought.

"What's up?" Oliver cleared his throat, rising to stand.

"Dig called – A.R.G.U.S. found out who the Australian partner is and . . . you're not going to like it." Rory told him.

"Well?" Oliver grunted.

"It's . . . well it's Grant Wilson . . ."

Wilson . . . Oliver's entire body tensed. "As in Slade Wilson?"

"Um . . . yeah." Roy nodded. "A.R.G.U.S. thinks Grant is his son – and apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Slade told me his son's name was Joseph." Oliver ran his hand through his hair, letting out a breath. He paced around the room – this was not good.

"Yeah well . . . evidently he's got another one." Roy shrugged. "According to Diggle, Grant and Palmer both went to the same college, ugh I forgot which one. I guess they stayed in touch. Anyway, we're not really sure what Grant's involvement is, but if he's anything like his dad it can't be good."

"Probably not." Oliver sighed. Slade Wilson as Deathstroke had a been a force to be reckoned with . . . and if his son was anything like his father . . . "We need to find out how this Grant is involved – whether he w's employed by Palmer Tech or another organization that was working with Palmer and his people."

"You're thinking like the mob or mafia or something right?" Roy guessed.

Oliver nodded. "If not something inherently worse."

"Maybe Palmer's wife was a Wilson too." Roy shrugged.

"I doubt it." Oliver shot him down. "Let's not focus on the wife just yet – we need to figure out what Wilson and Palmer were up too and who else could be involved."

"Got it boss." Roy nodded, turning around.

"Hey . . . how's Thea?" Oliver cleared his throat.

Roy froze. "Um . . ."

Ever since the funeral, Thea had refused to come home. She wouldn't even speak to Oliver. As far as he knew, she was staying with Roy at his place in the Glades. He didn't like her there – it was too dangerous – but for now he'd give her space to grieve. "Look, I know she doesn't want to talk to me right now – I get it. Just . . . how is she?"

Roy shrugged. "She's better than she was, but she won't talk about it." Oliver figured that. "She is helping Laurel at the D.A.'s office, like interning or something. At least she's keeping busy."

Oliver nodded, sighing. "Thanks."

As Roy left, Oliver went to the computers in the center of the room. He didn't know much about computers – five years on an island had left him out of the start of the tech age – but he'd learned enough since then. When they worked with The Flash a few times, his friend Cisco helped them set up a better system for their operation. Since then, things had gotten a lot easier.

He sat at the desk, pulling up the security feed for the hospital. With a few clicks, he had a split screen feed – Felicity's room and the NICU ward. This allowed him to keep watch over the two of them when he couldn't be at the hospital. He'd also figured out a way to set up an alarm for suspicious activity in the hospital and track the visitor's logs.

He had to keep them safe, protect them from whatever her husband had dragged her into. If something happened to either of them, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

Three weeks later, Felicity still hadn't come out of the coma. Oliver kept a constant watch – both on the hospital security and her labs. So far there was still no attack or move from her husband's people but he knew it had to be imminent. Her son was still in the NICU but from what he'd learned from his labs he wasn't as critical as when he'd been born.

He hadn't told the team about her. He knew he had to eventually but right now he just wanted to keep her in his little bubble – the better to protect her and her son.

At least that's what he told himself.

Little had been discovered about Grant Wilson or his involvement with Palmer Tech. When Ray Palmer died nine months earlier, his entire company seemingly went to ground. They'd been trying to track activity of a few of the things they did know about – the weapons, the trafficking, the embezzlement . . . they'd had a few leads but nothing concrete yet.

These people were quiet which could only mean that they were planning something big. All the waiting around was making Oliver tense and itching for a fight. Anything to distract him from his mother's death, Thea's distance, and the woman fighting for her life that he couldn't get out of his head.

The woman whose hospital room he was currently pacing back and forth in his Arrow suit in the middle of the night.

He'd been out patrolling the city, trying to clear his head, when he found himself jumping into a dark window on the fourth floor of the hospital – Felicity's room. The room was dark and quiet and Felicity's mother was nowhere to be found. Felicity herself was, of course, unconscious on the bed, the only sound in the room from the monitors she was hooked up to.

He watched her for a while, the rise and fall of her steady breaths. She looked to be only sleeping . . . sleeping beauty waiting to be awoken. She was still as beautiful as the that first day he saw her in that cafeteria.

This was the first time he'd been this close to her.

She was right there, right there in front of him . . . but so far out of reach. Even if she weren't in a coma, she would still be out of his reach. There was no way that he would ever be able to be with anyone, let alone her. The work that he did, the enemies he'd made . . . No.

She was better off without him.

A noise out in the hall drew his attention, some kind of scuffle. He looked back at Felicity one more time before quietly making his way to the door. Pulling an arrow out and raising his bow, he edged around the corner. If someone was there, he'd get the drop on them first.

As he rounded the door, however, he found that no one was there. Down the hall a few nurses were knelt on the ground picking up scattered pieces of paper but that was it. He stalked down the hall on the other side and down further past the nurses (careful not to be seen) – nothing. Letting out a sigh, he turned back toward Felicity's room. When he got closer to the door he heard a noise coming from within her room.

Quickly he entered the room and what he saw made his heart nearly stop. A man in a security guard uniform stood by her bedside – holding a pillow over Felicity's face.

"Get away from her!" He shouted, the device on his suit masking his voice. The guard looked up, dropping the pillow and pulling a gun from the holster on his waist. Oliver readied his bow and sent an arrow flying that collided with the guard's hand, knocking the gun out of his hand. The guard grunted and bent down to reach for the gun that had fallen on the floor.

Oliver lunged forward, kicking the guard in the face and knocking him backward. He then kicked the gun across the room where it fell in the vent on the floor. The guard stood back up, going for Oliver. Voices sounded from outside the room down the hall – Oliver needed to wrap this up quick.

Before the guard could reach him, Oliver readied another arrow and sent it flying. Right on target, the arrow hit the guard in the chest. As the guard fell dead to the floor, Oliver followed the noise from the bed –

A pair of wide blue eyes stared right into his – Felicity Smoak-Palmer was awake.

To Be Continued . . .


	6. Chapter 5: Walls Kept Tumbling Down

Chapter Five: Walls Kept Tumbling Down

Author's Notes: Another short little update, this one from Felicity's perspective. Chapter title comes from Bastille's "Pompeii". Let me know what you think. :)

She'd been hearing her mother's voice nonstop for what felt like an eternity. Laughing, crying, talking, yelling, screaming, begging, pleading, apologizing . . . people said that Felicity talked a lot but if they spent just two minutes with Donna they'd know where she got it from. Donna would talk about the baby or what gossip she'd heard from nurses or even about some cute doctor she'd seen in the hallway. Occasionally she'd hear a doctor or a nurse explaining things to her even though she wasn't awake or even talking to her mother.

None of that ever brought her out of this endless state of sleep, though. None of it seemed to register in her mind. It was like she was stuck, trapped in this stage of nothingness. Had it been a day? A week? A year? She didn't even know. Time ceased to have meaning, blending together like the thoughts in her head.

Until she heard a different voice . . .

This one was distorted – male, from what she could tell but it was altered by some sort of tech. But the tech couldn't hide the emotion she heard in the voice – desperation, fear, anxiety, worry . . .

With just the words "get away from her" she was spooked out of this endless nightmare. Something was wrong, something was making it hard for her to breathe. She couldn't much feel her body yet but she knew that there was something stifling her. She felt her limbs twitch, however stiff and sore, and when she let out a painful moan her unused vocal cords rejected her. More than that, it was like something was muffling her ability to open her mouth. Then in a moment she felt a rush of air breeze over her face and whatever was holding her back from breathing was gone. She gasped – soundless – as she fought to regain her breath.

She could hear the signs of a struggle, something violent in the room around her. The sounds of blows being delivered and bodies crashing to the floor. A high pitched squeal – but not from a person or animal.

Her eyes flew open, adjusting to the dark room as they landed on another pair of eyes – these ones masked, hidden by strips of cloth. The Arrow, the vigilante she'd seen on the news and heard about since she'd moved to town. But she didn't need him to remove the mask to know who it was . . . she'd know those eyes anywhere.

The pain, the loss . . . it was the man who'd locked eyes with her in the hospital room right before she'd been taken to the delivery room. The man who uselessly stood in front of a vending machine just to make sure she was okay but still allowed her to have her space. The man she'd watched crumble from down the hall as her own knees gave out on her. The man the nurses had been gossiping about. The man in the green hooded sweatshirt she was pretty sure was watching her in the cafeteria before he disappeared in a flash of green.

Oliver Queen.

"Are you okay?" His voice was still distorted (apparently that hadn't just been her subconscious) as he walked toward her. He probably didn't know that she knew who he was. She flinched, still confused from just waking up. "H-Hey . . . I'm not going to hurt you." He stopped, holding out his hand.

Little did he know that somehow she already knew that.

A small grunt of pain broke their eye contact and she found her gaze on the heap of body on the floor across the room. In the harsh light from the doorway, she squinted her eyes and let out a gasp.

"He's not going to hurt you anymore, Miss Smoak." The Arrow – Oliver – stepped toward her again. Inside a part of her was freaked out that he knew her name but the other part was relieved and slightly flattered that he didn't call her Mrs. Palmer. Then she realized that he probably knew all about her – he was a vigilante; he was probably investigating the crap that her hu—that Ray was involved with.

Which, by the way . . . "I . . . he . . ." Her voice was still so rough. Oliver picked up the cup of water from the table beside her bed and helped her take a few drinks. She cleared her throat, suddenly wondering why the nurses hadn't come running from all the noise. "I k-know him . . ." She whispered.

"You know the man who attacked you?" Oliver said. She nodded. "He works for Ray Palmer or Grant Wilson, doesn't he?" She was right – he was looking into it.

"Wilson." She told him. Did Oliver think she was involved? And why would her dead husband's business partner send someone to kill her? Oh god . . .

"Hey, your mom and your son are safe. It's okay. He's a strong boy, maybe he'll even be a hero one day." Oliver smirked.

She breathed a sigh of relief . . . "Son? I have a son?" He nodded. Voices and footsteps sounded from the hall. He glanced at her and then at the door. "It's okay, go."

He let out a breath. "I'll keep you safe. Don't trust the cops – I don't know who else is involved. If you have any questions or need to contact me only go through Detective Lance – he's the only one you can trust. Okay?" She nodded. She turned toward the door as the voices and steps got louder. When she turned back to Oliver, he was gone – the window was open and a breeze wafted in.

When the nurses came in, she told them she woke up and only saw the dead man on the floor. By the look on their faces, the green arrow in his chest gave away who did it. Not that they'd ever find him.

The cops came to question her but she refused to talk to anyone but Detective Lance. She told him what happened and who was there when she woke up – though she left out that she knew who the Arrow was. He told her that there was a lot they didn't know yet and there hadn't been any sightings of the mixed up crew her husband had been involved with. He also said that the Arrow was doing everything in his power to figure this out and he'd keep her and her family safe.

She didn't get to meet her son or see her mother for several hours – the doctors wanted to run tests and make sure she was okay (both from the coma she'd apparently been in for weeks and the attack). The tests all seemed to be good – or so they told her. They even said she might get to go home soon.

By the time her mother and a nurse wheeled the little cart in, she was beyond drained. She never realized how exhausting a coma could be. That didn't stop her from wanting to hold her son, though. She ignored the pain in her muscles and let the nurse help her sit up. Her mother sat at her side as the nurse lowered her little boy into her weak arms.

He was the picture of perfection . . . the small tuft of light brown hair, the squishy little nose. Her mother said he looked just like Felicity when she was a baby (which relieved her to no end). He was a squirmy little guy and it didn't take long for Donna to have to help her weak arms hold him but it didn't matter.

The nurse asked her about a name and she faltered for a moment. She'd looked at some before she'd been brought to the hospital and at the time none had stuck out. She'd been too undecided and preoccupied with just getting him out of her. But now . . .

She remembered Oliver's words when he'd told her she had a son . . .

"His name is Finley, but maybe just Finn for short . . ." She told them. She remembered reading that the name represented energy and power and was an Irish hero's name. And a middle name . . . hmm . . . Finn was a gift out of all the darkness she'd had to overcome . . . "Finley Jonas Smoak."

"Oh sweetie, that's adorable." Donna gushed. The nurse smiled, telling them she'd get the form for the certificate when Felicity was ready.

She held on tight to Finn for as long as her body and the nurse allowed her to. He was warm and he snuggled in her arms like he knew he was safe and loved and belonged there. She couldn't wait to take him home and have him all to herself.

As the nurse wheeled him away, she curled up in her mother's arms. The happiness from the baby started to wear off and she began to think about what had happened earlier –

Someone had tried to kill her. And not just anyone – someone who was employed by the company she now owned and by the man who was her so-called husband's business partner. She didn't know what they'd been up to. She knew it was something illegal and possibly dangerous but she'd never really thought they'd come after her.

They weren't safe – her mother or Finn or her. Sooner or later Grant Wilson would send someone after her and her family again . . . and next time Oliver might be too late.

As the tears fell down her face and she clung to her mother like a child, she knew she had to do everything she could to protect her family. She couldn't just sit around and wait for the Arrow to save her. She looked to the table beside her bed where Detective Lance's card lay next to the lamp.

She would contact the Arrow herself – she'd help Oliver Queen bring down the men who'd probably not only killed her "husband" but also threaten her family now. She'd do whatever she could to keep Finn safe.

To be continued . . .

Author's Note: So . . . what do we think of the baby's name?


	7. Chapter 6: Clouds Rolled Over The Hills

Author's notes: Yeah, I know it's been awhile, so sorry about that. This one's just to get us moving forward. Also, I'm no expert hacker or coder so just bear with me. Chapter title comes again from Bastille's "Pompeii" 'cuz it's just such a great song and fits so well with where the story is right now. Hope all is well with all of you! :-)

Chapter 6: Clouds Rolled Over The Hills

As soon as the doctor allowed it, Felicity had her mother to bring her beloved tablet from home. She researched everything she could on both Oliver Queen and the Arrow. She looked into his history before he'd been lost at sea as well as his activities after. The criminals he'd taken down, reports of people he'd saved, witness sightings and criminal testimonies about him . . . She familiarized herself with everyone in his life - which is also how she found out that his mother lost her battle with cancer on the very day that Felicity gave birth to Finn.

It was also how she found out that – coincidence upon coincidence – Oliver's middle name was Jonas. Oliver Jonas Queen. She hadn't known that when she'd named her son. She'd found the name before she even knew who he was. It was just another way that the universe seemed to keep drawing them together.

It didn't really take long to figure out who he was working with as the Arrow - his "bodyguard" John Diggle, his ex-girlfriend District Attorney Laurel Lance (who was also Det. Lance's daughter), and the boyfriend of Oliver's younger sister Thea - Roy Harper. She also found information on Laurel's sister Sara who at the moment was presumed dead (again). From there she'd just had to decide how to approach them.

Well, first she had to get out of this hospital.

Her doctor was being as stubborn as he was before she'd given birth. She wanted to go home, she wanted out of this sterile prison. She wanted to see and hold and take care of her son without nurses and doctors hovering around her. Finley had been in this world for five weeks and she'd only been allowed to hold him a handful of times.

She spent her time now in this bed or walking around her room or to the bathroom (which was all the physical activity her doctor allowed her). There wasn't anything on tv – she was so behind on her Netflix queue but the hospital's wifi wasn't strong enough for video. She didn't have the focus or patience for reading right now – other than researching. Even mindless internet surfing wouldn't appease her boredom or wish for her child.

She hadn't seen or heard from Oliver Queen or the Arrow since he'd shown up in her hospital room and saved her. Nor had she been attacked. Detective Lance kept as steady flow of police protection around her mother, Finn, and her but she hadn't heard from him either. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in Lance's policeman . . . it was just that she didn't think they'd be able to protect her form Wilson.

She was restless, she was sore, and she was sick and tired of this damn hospital.

Her family were sitting ducks in this hospital. She needed to get out and get her family somewhere safe from the demons attached to the Palmer name. When she'd first awoken from the coma, her doctor had implied that she'd be released right away – but that was before the incisions from her surgery developed an infection. Now she was stuck here indefinitely until the infection was under control.

From what her nurses tell her, though, the infection should heal quite nice very soon – at present moment she was taking their word for it. All she knew was they'd stuck way too many scary needles into her skin and she had no interest in seeing the mess that was her multiple incisions.

As much as she loved them, the nurses had been hovering around her all day and night, every day and night. Finn's weight had dipped a little more than the doctors liked, so Felicity left her mother with strict instructions to remain glued to his side and give her any updates about her son. She just wished the nurses would leave her alone at least for a little bit.

She finally decided to contact the Arrow – now that she knew more about him, his team, and what they stood for. She would (hopefully) be out of this hospital soon and it was time that they all put their heads together and took down these monsters who'd attacked her. Instead of going through Detective Lance, she'd opted for a more direct approach. A short demonstration of her skills would show the Arrow and his team what she capable of and that she could help them. She was a little worried about whether or not they would trust her – she had been married to one of the people behind it, after all, but she had a feeling she'd be fine.

With Oliver especially, she felt that she could trust him to see the real her like she already could with him. And if he was the hero and the leader than she thought he was, it wouldn't be long before his team would see that they could trust her too.

The message was already sent out to them – they wouldn't receive it for a little while but she knew it wouldn't be long after that she heard something from them.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

The team was at a total standstill.

Oliver and his fellow vigilantes – his fellow heroes – were sinking into the dead end of this investigation into Ray Palmer, Grant Wilson, and whatever the hell they were involved in. They'd run out of leads, there weren't any witnesses to anything, and before long the trail would grow even colder than it already was.

The team was ready to abandon the case altogether – leave the SCPD and the FBI to take care of it while still checking in to it from time to time.

There was a new wave of criminals taking root in the Glades – pushing people around, dealing out drugs, even kidnapping a few people. They were apparently calling themselves the 'saviors' of the Glades, removing the toxic people ruining the Glades. Religious semi-extremists or just simple drug pushers who've caused a few people to overdose? They weren't so sure yet. As far as they knew though this new group was totally unrelated to the Palmer/Grant situation. One of the friends of Diggle's sister-in-law Carly was missing but the police wouldn't look in to it because she'd run off before only to come back a few weeks later – Diggle believed the new group in the Glades was behind her disappearance. The team believed it would be more fruitful to chase an enemy they could see than the one that could be way bigger than they knew.

Oliver, however, while sympathetic to Diggle and Carly, was a little more invested in the Palmer/Wilson case than the team knew. Of course, that was his fault – he hadn't told them about Felicity Smoak or her family or her connection to Palmer. He knew he had to, he just . . . He didn't know how to set about it without the team ending up mistrusting her or unwittingly exposing her to more danger.

There'd been times in the past of disagreements between Oliver and the rest of the team. Sometimes Oliver was willing to do more, go deeper, choose violence over reason whereas the rest of the team believed there was a better solution. He just couldn't help but feel that if the team disagreed with him about Felicity Smoak it could be catastrophic.

So while he decided the best way to tell them, he entertained the idea of chasing the Glades kidnappers even as he continued to watch over and protect Felicity, Donna, and newborn Finley Smoak.

"So Carly says that Shayna has had drug problems in the past but she's been clean for over a year." Diggle told the rest of the team as they were scattered around their "lair" under Oliver's club Verdant.

"People relapse all the time." Oliver let out a breath, twisting the bamboo stick around and hitting the practice dummies they had set up.

"Apparently Shayna was really serious about it this time. She was trying to get custody back of her kid from her jerk of an ex." Diggle held up a picture of Shayna and her son – Tyler? Ryder? Oliver couldn't remember.

"So some parents are jerks," Roy shrugged. "Maybe she decided the drugs were more important than her kid – again."

Laurel just shook her head, her eyes never leaving the computer screen she was glued to. "It doesn't really work that way, Roy. Drug addiction is a disease – just like alcohol addiction. She can't get clean until she's ready." Roy just shrugged, knowing better than to argue with her and went back to the bag of chips he was currently munching on.

"What connection does she have to the Glades group?" Oliver said.

"None that we directly know for sure about – except that she lives in the area where a few others have disappeared from." Diggle said. "Those people have direct connections to the group."

"It's a long shot – but it's definitely more concrete than the case Palmer was involved in." Laurel sighed. Oliver disagreed but kept his opinions to himself. The police could handle a few drug dealers and missing people – Wilson was into way heavier things that could quadruple the numbers of bodies the drug pushers would ever drop. "From what I've seen at the courthouse and heard from other attorney's—wait, hold on . . . what the hell is this?"

The others stopped what they were doing to focus on the Black Canary. A screeching sound erupted from the computer Laurel was working at, the screen a bright green. Laurel pushed back in her chair, startled. Roy's bag of chips dropped to the floor.

"What is it, some virus?" Roy said.

"I have no idea." Laurel stood, still backing away. "I was just on some news sites, looking for more information on the people that were missing. Nobody should be able to get into our system – Cisco set it up to be un-hackable."

"Well someone definitely hacked." Roy shrugged.

"It's got some kind of message." Oliver noted, seeing the print that flashed across the screen in large, bold black.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Diggle looked around the room, his hand reaching down to the holster on his hip. "If they can get into our system, who's to say they can't get in here."

Oliver had already thought of that, his hands finding his bow and arrows as soon as Laurel noticed the screen. Once he saw the message on the screen, he immediately tensed.

More than that, he knew who the message was from.

"Maybe the Glades group figured we were on to them." Roy shrugged.

"No . . ." Oliver breathed.

"Oliver, what is it?" Laurel looked back and forth between him and the screen.

"This has nothing to do with the Glades case," Oliver dropped his bow and let out a breath.

"How do you know?" Diggle didn't look convinced.

Oliver sighed again – this wasn't how he'd wanted to do this. "Look . . . there may or may not be some things I haven't told you guys . . ."

"Big surprise there." Roy mumbled, rolling his eyes. Diggle just looked at him and then lightly smacked him upside the head. Roy rubbed his head, letting out a breath. Laurel shook her head, not surprised.

"You better let it all out now or we're going to have a problem." Diggle grunted. From anyone else, Oliver would take this as a threat. From John Diggle – his friend, his fellow vigilante, his brother – he knew it was just a disappointed warning.

"I stumbled on to some information about Palmer." Oliver let out a breath. "I was simply waiting for the right time to let you guys in."

"Tell me you didn't do something stupid." Laurel crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. While once his girlfriend, now his ex, Laurel Lance was more his sister than anything else.

"It's . . . complicated." Oliver shrugged.

"So what does it have to do with this computer thing?" Roy said.

"There's a woman . . ." Oliver started.

"Here were go . . ." Diggle shook his head, chuckling. Roy laughed.

He told them somewhat of continuing to run into Felicity Smoak at the hospital while his mom was there – how he'd never really seen anyone with her. He left out the unspoken connection between them. Then he told them about he scribbled signatures he'd found in the Palmer Tech paperwork – the assistant turned into the co-owner and wife. It was harder to tell them about seeing her at the hospital the day his mother died, but he did and he told them he'd seen her chart and put it together. He also didn't tell them what Det. Lance told him – they didn't need to know his involvement and he didn't need to be in any more danger than necessary. He finished with telling them he'd been watching over the Smoak family and the night he'd stopped Grant's man from killing her as well as the brief conversation they'd had.

Oliver had told her to contact him though Det. Lance but apparently he'd underestimated her true skills.

The team was shocked silent as they all thought about the message that had already disappeared from the screen:

 _Oliver Queen is the Arrow. The former Mrs. Palmer is aware of this and has minimal information into her dead husband and Grant Wilson's criminal activity. The former Mrs. Palmer knew nothing of the activity until after her husband's death and now believes her family is in grave danger where they are. She wishes to make a deal – the Arrow and his team's protection for the information she has. She would also wish to aid in taking Wilson down so that her family will be safe for good. You've already seen that she can get in to your system – if the Arrow and his Team won't help her she'll expose them for who they are to the world – John Andrew Diggle, Dinah Laurel Lance, and Roy William Harper Jr._

Everyone just looked at Oliver who truly didn't know what to say.

To Be Continued.


	8. Chapter 7: For You To See

Chapter 7: For You To See

Author's Notes: Here's a mild update, not too long but I think you all with be happy with it all the same. The title for the chapter comes from one of my favorite bands: Linkin Park from their song "Castle of Glass." Hope everyone had a good weekend!

* * *

When Felicity woke up that evening after a few hours rest, she felt better than she had since before she had the baby. Not only that but she got to hold her son again AND her doctor told her that her infection was finally clearing up and she could be released probably within two days. Also, her son wasn't far from being strong enough to be released too.

Police officers were a constant outside of her room and near Finley in the NICU, keeping watch over them. She wished Finley could be with her in her room, but understood that he needed the equipment in the NICU to get better. Detective Lance stopped by frequently to check on her as well – he assured her the cops watching over her family were personal friends of his so they could be trusted. Felicity still wasn't entirely sure that she could trust the Detective, so she was just as unsure about his friends.

The only one she trusted right now was the Arrow.

It was late, well past one in the morning. Except for the occasional nurse that came in to check on her, there wasn't much else going on. Her mother was asleep in the small room attached to hers meant for family members who stayed overnight. Felicity herself sat up awake unable to sleep – despite her nurse's insistence that she needed to rest. She was waiting for the Arrow to send a message back.

Not to mention the fact that her ex-husband's people could attack her again at any moment.

"Miss Smoak?"

She looked up to find Detective Lance in the doorway. "Come on in, Detective." He shuffled into the room, closing and locking the door behind him. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but isn't it kind of late for visitors?"

"Yeah, well . . . this isn't really a social call." Lance immediately shut the lights off in the room other than the soft ones that lit the area around Felicity's bed. Little alarm bells went off in Felicity's head. Lance was by the window now, pulling up the shade and unlatching the locks.

"Detective, what the hell is going on?" Felicity tensed, her attempts to sit up straighter in the bed hindered by the pain in her gut.

"I sent your guards downstairs for a coffee break. Technically, I'm their replacement." He opened the window and made some kind of symbol with his hand. "He's your real visitor."

For a brief second, the thought that Lance was actually working with her ex-husband's people and was here to kill her crossed through her mind and she worked herself up to protect herself and somehow get her mom and son out of there . . .

A few moments later, a dark figure in green swung its way into the room through the window, rolling swiftly on the floor and coming to stand right next to her bed. He was holding a bow. Once she realized who it was, she relaxed.

It was Oliver – the Arrow.

He gave her a soft smile, his eyes covered in the black mask that always accompanied his outfit. He set something small on the table where her tablet sat – her tablet screen flashed and the phone next to her bed sparked.

"Great, now we can talk." Oliver pulled down his hood, leaving the mask on. She noticed that he wasn't using the voice modulator he had last time.

"So . . . you must have gotten my message then." Felicity observed. "You know, I attached a link that you could reply with."

"I'm not very good with technology." Oliver shrugged.

"And yet you have the means to short out the phone?" Felicity said.

"A friend made it for me." Oliver told her. She was mildly impressed. And, she kind of wanted to meet this friend.

"I'll be outside, give you two a chance to talk." Lance left the room, closing the door behind him.

Oliver kept his position, standing a few feet away from her bed. "How are you feeling?"

Felicity shrugged, letting out a deep breath. "Eh . . . it was a tough delivery." The Arrow was on high alert, his eyes scanning the room. He walked back and forth, to all the corners, pausing outside the room where her mother was asleep. "She sleeps like the dead – she won't wake up." She reassured him.

He nodded. "I've seen your chart – you very nearly didn't make it."

She wasn't surprised that he'd seen her chart – not that it made it any less disturbing. "That's what the doctors told me. Recovering from blood loss and major infection is a bitch."

"Wilson's men are still out there – but they haven't attacked again yet. They're waiting for the right moment. Has your husband's company contacted you at all since he died?"

She shook her head, wincing at the h-word. "None at all. Not even the press or the lawyers."

"They're either not interested in you at all or they have something else planned for you entirely." Oliver told her – which she'd figured out already. "Which is why I'm here and why you contacted me."

"Correct." She nodded.

"We need to get the three out you out of here as soon as possible, before Wilson decides to play his hand." The Arrow cleared his throat, all business.

"The doctors say that Finn and I should be ready to be discharged soon." Felicity said.

The Arrow shook his head. "We can't wait. I have a contact here in the hospital – a nurse. She's looked over your charts and checked on you both – she says you could leave sooner without any major complication. And she's helped me find supplies in case we should need it."

"But what if something happens when we leave? Without a nurse there—"

"I assume you've done your research on my team – Mr. Diggle has medical training from his tour in Afghanistan." Oliver told her. "He also has a young daughter of his own and a nephew – and plenty of experience with infants. My nurse contact will be on standby as well."

That relieved her a little, but not much.

"There isn't much of a choice here, Miss Smoak. Both Detective Lance and I don't trust that Wilson doesn't have a mole in the SCPD – police protection won't be enough." He told her.

"Yeah, I sort of already figured that which is why I decided to contact you." Felicity sighed. "So how does this work then?"

"For right now, you just need to trust in me and my team." He told her. "The less you know, the better. What about your mother? Does she know what's really going on?"

"No," Felicity shook her head. "If at all possible I'd like to keep her in the dark as long as I can. She tends to . . . overreact . . ."

"Understood. It may be more difficult, but not entirely impossible." He gripped the bow in his hand. "When the time comes, just go with it. Maybe keep your mother calm?" She nodded. He tapped something on his chest – a comm link maybe? "The extraction will be soon so you should get some rest. We'll be watching the area until then. You'll know it's happening if you hear the word 'verdant.'" He turned back toward the window.

"Mr. Arrow?" She called, decided to go with his other name in case someone was listening. He stopped, but didn't turn back. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your mom." She could hear him let out a breath before he turned around.

His face twitched, kind of like he was holding back tears. He looked up and their eyes locked. "How did you know it was me?"

"Your eyes." Felicity spoke softly. "I've seen you around the hospital the last couple of months. I've spent a lot of time here since I moved to the city – stress complications. There was one day you were kneeling outside a room – your mother's I would guess. You looked like your heart was in so much pain. I could see it in your eyes." He nodded. "When you saved me, I recognized that pain in your eyes – even through your mask."

He was silent for a moment, gripping his bow tight in his hand. Without a word, he held his bow up and jumped out of the window.

She fell asleep soon after, comforted by the knowledge that the Arrow and his team were watching over her and Detective Lance was right outside the door.

A few hours later the nurses brought her and her mother to the NICU to spend some time with Finn. While she held him, Finn's doctor came over them briefly to tell her that her son was growing nicely now and was ready to be discharged when she was.

Knowing that Finn was healthy enough to leave made Felicity feel a lot better since they would be secretly leaving the hospital before she was actually discharged.

Finn was quiet and content in her arms, staring up at her with his bright blue eyes. Her mother sat smiling at them in the chair in front of Felicity's.

"He's getting so big." Donna gently rubbed his cheek with her finger. "He was so tiny when I first saw him – scared me half to death."

"I hope his eyes stay blue, I love it." Felicity leaned down to press a kiss to his head. Not brown, like Ray's had been. Or green, like her father's.

"Just like my baby girl." Donna nodded.

"Look, Mom . . . I know we don't always get along . . . but thanks for being here with me." Felicity let out a breath.

"There isn't anywhere else that I'd be." Donna told her. "You and Finn are my family – and families stick together." Felicity nodded.

Soon they were approached by a nurse – one that Felicity hadn't seen before. "Hello Felicity." The nurse greeted her. "Do you think that I could talk to you for a moment?" Felicity tensed but didn't let it show. She had to trust that she'd be safe with the Arrow nearby. She turned to her mother who nodded.

"I'll be just over there." Donna said.

When they were alone, the nurse knelt down next to Felicity. "My name is Laurel – and I'm not a nurse."

"You work with the Arrow." Felicity spoke.

Laurel the not-nurse nodded. "I'm here to tell you "verdant" and it's time to go. Follow my lead."

to be continued . . .

End note: Holy doodle, here we go . . .


End file.
